UNAVCO is downloading high-rate 1-sps (1 Hz) data from 9 GPS/GNSS stations operated by UNAVCO within ~600 km of the epicenter for a 6-hour time window around the event (± 3 hours). A map of downloaded stations is shown. These data are available from the UNAVCO high rate data ftp site.

Eight graduate students attended the Earth Educators' Rendezvous (EER) at the University of Kansas 15 – 20 July, 2018 with support from the GAGE facility. The EER is a conference sponsored by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) focused on supporting educators of all disciplines related to the earth, atmosphere and ocean. In it’s fourth year, the EER draws over 200 educators from universities, two-year colleges, and K-12 institutions.

In response to the 2018-07-19 M6.0 Chernabura Island, AK earthquake, UNAVCO has downloaded high-rate 1-sps (1 Hz) GPS/GNSS data from Plate Boundary Observatory stations within ~200 km of the epicenter for a 6-hour time window around the event (± 3 hours). A map of GPS stations being downloaded is shown in Figure 2. These data will be available from the UNAVCO high rate data ftp site. UNAVCO has also downloaded data from the same stations in response to the 2018-07-21 M5.4 aftershock event.

From February 12th through 16th, UNAVCO's Dylan Schmeelk and John Galetzka joined UC Santa Cruz professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences Noah Finnegan (PI) and his graduate students Alex Nereson and Colleen Murphy in Oak Ridge in the mountains just east of Milpitas, CA to upgrade continuous GPS (cGPS) monitoring of the slow slip landslide at Oak Ridge Earthflow Observatory.

A crustal deformation model for the Western United States fits geodetic and geologic observations and shows where major changes in the crust are occurring. Such modeling is critical for earthquake hazard assessments and for understanding Earth processes.

Analysis of past earthquakes shows that GPS/GNSS sites can provide high-rate, low-noise data to determine peak ground velocities for earthquakes of magnitude greater than 5.8. The geodetic-derived ground motion can help with earthquake early warning, emergency response and earthquake engineering.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation can be used to detect dark matter. Sixteen years of ground-based GPS receiver observations were utilized to look for dark matter passing near Earth. Although no dark matter was detected, the results refine the properties of the universe, the accuracies of atomic clocks and future searches for dark matter.

Ground-based GNSS sites can measure the extent of sea ice. The method relies on measuring the signal to noise ratio of the satellite signal that reflects off of the ice. A single GNSS site, GTGU, situated on the coast of a bay at the Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden, measured sea ice extent over a three-year period.

The health of wild vegetation during the California drought of 2012 to 2014 was measured with microwave-wavelength reflected Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements from hundreds of sites that are part of the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory. The geodetic data is compared to optical-wavelength measurements at collocated sites. The observations and comparisons show that three years of drought stunted growth and reduced the growing season with the late precipitation in the third year of the drought being particularly devastating to vegetation. These methods can help gauge future conditions and inform environmental impacts on humans and nature.

Central America faces tsunami threats along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts and at the shores of large lakes. Large earthquakes caused the most damaging tsunamis, however, landslides or volcanic eruptions can cause tsunamis around large lakes. Warning systems rely on seismic and geodetic observations. The Central American Tsunami Advisory Center (CATAC) will use these observations to help reduce losses.

An analysis of the 2016 Iniskin earthquake shows how GPS sites in Alaska may augment earthquake early warning. For a large magnitude earthquake that originates at a shallow depth, information from GPS can provide some warning before the shaking arrives in populated areas such as Anchorage. The geodetic data can rapidly and precisely define the earthquake properties to help with response and triggered hazards such as landslides and tsunamis.